Nursery nurse Donna Turner has been refused the chance to have her dead husband's baby - because NHS bosses said it would make her a single parent.

Today the distraught new bride told how she had been refused IVF treatment using sperm taken from her husband of only eight months, before he died.

Surgeons had even reversed his vasectomy as he lay dying from bowel cancer, just months after the couple wed, so that the sperm could be harvested and frozen to fulfil the couple's desperate wish to have a baby.

The 32-year-old said that NHS staff had turned her down for IVF treatment because, as a widow, she is now officially single.

Donna married Paul Turner in April 2012, but just eight months later he died after being diagnosed with cancer.

Refused Treatment: NHS bosses say she can't have funding for IVF with her dead husband's sperm because she doesn't meet their criteria. (Photo: INS)

Having got as far as discussing names for their unborn child, Paul's dying wish was for Donna to have it using his frozen sperm. Paul even had a vasectomy reversed to allow the procedure to happen.

However, just months after the 39-year-old's death Donna was denied the £3,500 pounds treatment by her local NHS commissioning group.

Still wearing his wedding ring on a chain around her neck, Donna said: "I wanted his child more than anything.

"Now my goal is to have this baby which I promised him on his death bed.

"For the names it was going to be Paignton-Louise for a girl and Tommy for a boy.

"Then the Clinical Commissioning Group refused to fund me. They said I couldn't have the IVF because they class me as single and because he has got a son from a previous relationship years ago.

"I'm not single, I'm widowed."

The decision has left Donna trying to save up for the treatment but admits this could take years.

"All I was asking them for was one little bit of help," said Donna.

"I feel really angry because they're letting women have boob jobs and tummy tucks on the NHS but won't help someone like me.

"I didn't ask to be a widow. I would either be pregnant or have the baby by now if Paul had been here.

"I look at pregnant people now and I think 'why is that not me?' It should have been me pushing a pram now or with a bump."

The couple met on New Year's Day 2010, instantly clicking and going on their first date to see Avatar at the cinema a week later.

"The first thing I noticed was his sense of humour," said Donna.

"He had lovely eyes and he was such a jollly, fun person to be around."

Happier Times: Donna Turner and her late husband Paul on the day of their wedding. (Photo: INS)

The couple spent time travelling between Donna's home in Milton Keynes, Bucks., and Kent, where Paul was living at the time until he moved in with her in October 2010.

Paul proposed on New Year's Eve, getting down on one knee at a party and they married in Milton Keynes in April 2012 before heading off on their honeymoon in Devon.

However, just five months later, Arsenal fan Paul was diagnosed with cancer and, despite originally being told he could have more than 18 months to live, he died in January 2013.

Describing Paul as "full of life and fun", Donna said: "When he went I felt empty and heartbroken.

"I couldn't take in that one minute I'm walking down the aisle to the best bloke I have ever met and the next minute I'm losing him.

"As he was slipping away I held his hand and told him I loved him and I promised him I would have the child and take them to Devon like we planned.

"On the last breath I saw a little tear roll down his face and then he was gone."

During his illness the couple had a wedding blessing ceremony, having planned to do so after five years of marriage but knowing Paul would not survive until then.

One special gift Donna still has is a Build-A-Bear which Paul got her when he was ill.

"He recorded his voice in there so I will always have that to listen to," she said.

Donna's mother, Lee Payne, aged 56 years, said the whole experience has been incredibly difficult for the family.

Lambasting the NHS decision as the final insult, she said: "My daughter hasn't chosen to be in this situation.

"She always wanted to be a mum and have a child with the husband she loves, the man of her dreams.

"He brought some life into our house and children loved him, he was like the Pied Piper. Nobody ever said a bad word about him.

"When they turned her down for the IVF like that, I was so upset and angry.

"I couldn't help my daughter to save her husband but this is one thing I can try to do for her."

The Milton Keynes Clinical Commissioning Group's associate director, Janet Corbett, said its IVF policy was in line with other CCGs in the East Midlands.

She added: "The policy is for use when a couple have a medical reason for being unable to conceive a child."